Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The most pressing issue of the day is the revelation that one quarter of the population are living a life of deprivation in which they are deprived of basic necessities. I do not see any urgency on the part of the Government to tackle this issue. When 56% of single parent households are described as living in deprivation, we can only imagine what will be the consequences for future generations. As is the case with the mortgage crisis, we have not seen any Government action on the issue of poverty, other than announcements that it is establishing a commission or inquiry or appointing individuals to certain roles. We have activity but no action.

Some Senators opposite seem to have cited the leaked report into the death of Savita Halappanavar. Have they received the report or spoken to anyone about it? The report and the tragic case in Galway are being utilised by some people who have the best of intentions and others who want to have abortion on demand. The latter are using the tragedy to fulfil their own-----